Hitting Cork where it hurts

I’M still receiving e-mails on an almost daily basis regarding the crisis in Cork, which suggests that the Cork hurling public, at least, are concerned about what’s going on.

The most hopeful tone is that the current silence on the matter could herald progress, that things are happening behind the scenes and a solution may be in the pipeline.

Sad to report, however, nothing could be further from the truth - there are no negotiations. To a certain extent the silence is welcome, a break from the public slagging, never a good way to conduct your affairs even if it does keep the masses engaged.

What the Cork hurling public would like to know, however, and that includes those on every side of this divide, is that its county board is working hard to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion. The truth is they are not.

There has been no official contact with the players, no effort to try and reach a compromise that would end the impasse; in short, there has been no leadership, and yet again, just as happened last year, a rudderless Cork GAA drifts towards the abyss.

Then again, that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Let’s have a look at the kind of leadership that’s been provided by the Cork county board over the last few decades. Since the early 1970’s, practically every major progressive initiative that was proposed by the GAA has been opposed by Cork, vehemently opposed in most cases. The removal of the Ban – against; the expanded televising of live games, against; the removal of yet another Ban, on members of the RUC and the British armed forces playing hurling and football, Cork lined up with Ulster and voted against for years; the opening up of Croke Park to soccer and rugby, against. Can you see the pattern?

During that period, inside the county, there have been gains, not least the construction of Páirc Uí Chaoimh and the purchase of Flower Lodge, now known as Páirc Uí Rinn, though it could be argued that Cork hardly needed another city-centre location, with Páirc Uí Chaoimh just around the corner. A green-field site on which could have been built an integrated centre of excellence, along with an all-weather pitch and stadium, would have been far more constructive, but then again, wasn’t it great to give soccer one in the eye, swipe one of their marquee-name pitches from under their noses?

Did it not demonstrate, conclusively and painfully, the superior organisation of the GAA over the FAI to the followers of that foreign sport in Cork city? Irony apart, however, in financial matters at least, the Cork County Board have proven themselves masterful, for which huge credit is due. Then again, the so-called Church of Scientology is also a massively wealthy organisation – so what? In the business of doing that for which it is most responsible, the promotion of gaelic games generally and hurling and gaelic football in particular, over the last couple of decades the Cork County Board has been a failure, and that failure is becoming more glaring by the year.

Do you know that Cork has nearly twice as many adult football teams as Kerry, more than twice as many hurling teams as Kilkenny, three times as many football teams as Tyrone?

And yet, in gaelic football, Cork have won two senior All-Ireland titles since 1973, none since 1990, as against 13 for Kerry in that period, three for Tyrone since 2003 – that’s a scandalous reflection on Cork football.

In hurling the story is better, but still falls well short of where it should be; three All-Ireland senior titles since 1990, while Kilkenny have picked up eight. At underage, however, the real story; no county-wide identification and development system of young talent, no structures in place for their promotion through the ranks, everything left to chance, same as it ever was. Neglect, and on a grand scale, no-one held accountable.

SO it is that we come to the current mess with the hurlers, and should we be surprised that, for the third time in six years, a major conflict has broken out between the players who have managed to make it to the top, and those who are meant to be in charge? Given their actions in the early rounds of this conflict, given their inaction since, which inference would you take, that this is a board which has the best interests of Cork GAA at heart, or that this is a board concerned solely with just another power play, with putting this particular group of players, and a particular group within that panel, back in their box? I have no doubt about the answer to that question.

One of the means by which Cork GAA has built up its massive financial war-chest, paid for Páirc Uí Chaoimh, for Páirc Uí Rinn, is through a well-organised monthly draw.

I have two memberships of that draw and sold several others to family and friends. If this situation is allowed to continue drifting over the next month towards another possibly catastrophic climax next year, meaningful participation in National League and championship in doubt, I will be cancelling those memberships.

Why would I subscribe any longer to a board which no longer appears to care about what I, and thousands of others, see as an imperative?

For most of us, this is hugely frustrating, like watching an impending train-wreck; there isn’t a lot I can do on a practical level, but if the county board won’t act, I will. It’s only a few bob, a tenner a month, but if enough people decide that they too have had enough and cancel their subscriptions, it might just prompt the board into action. Might.

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